Wednesday, December 31, 2014

The night before Father Charles Engelhardt died, a fellow inmate claims, the priest gave a dying declaration:

"Paul, I do not feel well. Please understand that I am an innocent man, who was wrongly convicted."

On Dec. 22, the inmate, Paul H. Eline, a former Temple Law student, filed as an intervenor with the state Superior Court in the case of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Charles Engelhardt, appellant.

In his application for third party intervention, Eline wrote that the matters he was bringing to the court's attention were "critical and constitute 'extraordinary circumstances' " that should be made part of the record.

At the time of his death last month, Engelhardt was an inmate at the State Correctional Institution in Coal Township, Northumberland County. The 67-year-old priest had served nearly two years of a 6-to-12 year-sentence after being convicted on Jan. 30, 2013 of endangering the welfare of a child, corruption of a minor and indecent assault. His accuser, however, a former altar boy dubbed Billy Doe, told an incredible and constantly changing story subsequently refuted by evidence gathered by the district attorney's own detectives. The priest died during an ambulance ride on the way to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Pa. while his conviction was under appeal with the state Superior Court.

Under federal rules of evidence, a dying declaration is an exception to the hearsay rule and is admissible as evidence in criminal homicide or civil cases. In his court filing, inmate Eline argues that in his final moments of life the priest had no reason to lie.

"There is no other reason for Charles F. Engelhardt to state anything but the truth, knowing that his life will be lost to improper medical procedures," Eline wrote in a "dissertation in support" of his application to intervene.

The inmate, of course, comes with baggage.

Eline, according to the Republican Herald of Pottsville, was convicted on Jan. 24, 2006 of 18 counts of deceptive business practices for not installing numerous swimming pools. The newspaper reported that state police "charged Eline with contracting with numerous people in Schuylkill and Berks counties to install swimming pools, accepting payments and not doing the work."

Eline, 66 years old in 2010, was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison.

In October 2010, a three-judge panel of Superior Court judges upheld Eline's conviction and sentence on appeal, rejecting Eline's argument that his former lawyer ineffectively represented him by not adequately preparing for trial. In his appeal, Eline, according to the Superior Court judges, "failed to present credible evidence" to support his claim.

In letters to the priest's family, Eline wrote that Engelhardt was denied emergency heart bypass surgery that would have saved his life, strictly because of the cost.

In response, Susan McNaughton, a press secretary for the state Department of Corrections, wrote, "The only information I can provide you is the fact that Charles Engelhardt died of natural causes on Nov. 15, 2014. An inmate's cause of death is determined by the appropriate county coroner."

The press secretary did not address the claims made by Eline. In his letters, Eline wrote to the Engelhardt family that he treated the priest like a brother.

"He was very close and dear to me," Eline wrote the priest's family on Nov 25th. "I will sorely miss him as he was highly respected. I looked over Charles as if he was my own brother. So you know I was Charles' senior by a few years. I made sure no one, and I mean no one, either took advantage or even said a curse word to him."

Father Engelhardt was an oblate of St. Francis de Sales. In a Nov. 8th letter to his superior, Father Engelhardt wrote that he "started to get very dizzy" on the morning of Nov. 4th. His cellmate "thought I was going to fall and tried to get me to sit down," the priest wrote, but all he could do was lean against a wall.

He was taken to the hospital, where doctors began an angioplasty, "the procedure to open an artery through my right wrist," Engelhardt wrote. "I was awake the whole time."

Further tests determined that there were "other arteries on the other side of the heart that were greatly clogged and needed to be dealt with," the priest wrote his superior. Doctors told Engelhardt another procedure should be done immediately, the priest wrote. But the doctors told Engelhardt they wanted to give him time to recover from the first procedure before they performed a second, the priest wrote.

The priest was discharged from the hospital on Nov. 7th. He stayed the night in the prison infirmary and the next day, was sent back to jail.

"If Charles would have received the bypasses the first time he was rushed to the Geisinger Hospital, he would still be alive today," inmate Eline wrote the priest's family. "What I am really surprised with is Geisinger Hospital becoming involved with this denial of a life-saving treatment."

"The doctors and the hospital knew that Charles needed these bypasses at once," the inmate wrote. "The supply of blood to critical parts of Charles' body were not receiving blood or very little ... I know he would still be with us if he would have been treated correctly."

In a Nov. 27th letter to the family, Eline asked if the priest had informed them "of how barbaric this medical department is and the steps they take to 'avoid' costly medical treatment, either through medication or refusal of required surgery."

Eline referred to the prison's medical department as "a subcontractor who wins the proposal by the lowest bid." An innate "must be almost dead before any treatment is authorized," Eline wrote. "I know this for a fact, as I have been waiting close to two years for cataract surgery."

In a separate letter to Engelhardt's lawyer, Michael J. McGovern, Eline wrote on Nov. 15th that the state Department of Corrections "and the medical staff at another facility put me in a position of close to death, due to abuse. I have instituted a civil action in the Northumberland County Court pursuant to this abuse. I am self representing, as I have been unable to contact an attorney who is willing to review my case and pursue the litigation."

In the letter to McGovern, Eline wrote that he "did attend Beasley Law School, for two years and then transferred to Penn State, obtaining in total, a master's degree in mechanical engineering."

In his letter to the Engelhardt family, Eline said priest's death could have been prevented.

"When Charles came back from the hospital the first time he informed me that the hospital, after putting the solution in his veins, and discovering that the artery was 90 percent blocked," installed two stents, the inmate wrote. "But Charles was instructed at that time, by the doctor ... that he must have bypass at once the avoid the possibility of serious consequences."

"Now, this is why these bypasses were not done at that time," Eline wrote. "First the doc had five other inmates in the hospital" watched over by a half-dozen correctional officers.

"The medical firm would do anything to avoid this very expensive operation," Eline wrote. The doctors "gambled and the end result is the loss of Charles."

After he came back from the hospital, Father Engelhardt spent some time in the infirmary before returning to jail. His cell, however, was on the second floor. As a heart patient dealing with blocked arteries, the priest had difficulty climbing the stairs.

The priest asked a sergeant if he could be moved to a first-floor cell but the sergeant refused the request, inmate Eline wrote the Engelhardt family. The next day, another sergeant was on duty and Eline took up Engelhardt's cause.

"I instructed this sergeant that if anything happens to Charles, that I will hold him personally responsible for Charles's well-being," Eline wrote. "This sergeant immediately moved Charles to an empty room on the first floor."

When the priest told Eline he wasn't feeling well, "I instructed Charles to go lay down in his room," Eline wrote. "Right when Charles was getting up to go into his room, Charles stated" his dying declaration, Eline wrote. "Charles stated this because we were discussing his case and appeal."

"When Charles went into his room, I immediately went to this sergeant ... and instructed him to get Charles down to medical or call medical to come up here," Eline wrote. "He did not."

"The next morning, Charles went down to medical and he was immediately rushed back to the hospital," Eline wrote.

He never made it there alive.

In contrast to the prison's story that Engelhardt died of "natural causes," the lawyer for the oblates of St. Francis de Sales was told that the primary cause of death was multi-system organ failure, the second cause was complete heart blockage, and the third cause was coronary heart disease.

Father Engelhardt's family was grateful to receive the inmate's letters. It was far more information than they've gotten from prison officials about Engelhardt's last days. Prison officials waited two days before notifying the family about the priest's death.

"I think its wonderful that the man took the time to do all this," said Elaine Boyle, Father Engelhardt's sister, said of Eline. "I think he's sincere. And I'm so thankful to him, but it's so upsetting."

In his dissertation to the Superior Court, Eline ripped Billy Doe, Father Engelhardt's accuser, and Billy's lawyer.

"Today's society has evolved to the point of condemning a man who is completely innocent of any wrongdoing, strictly to achieve ... in plain words, a financial gain through deceit," the inmate wrote the court. That condemnation came "not only by the attacker, but by counsel representing this deceitful plot that is based one hundred percent [on] words from a dishonest person with the intentional goal of financial gain," the inmate wrote.

UPDATE: Apparently, the Superior Court was unimpressed with the filings by inmate Eline. On Friday Jan. 9th, the docket in the case of Commonwealth v. Engelhardt recorded that the application for third party intervention had been denied. There was no further comment.

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comments:

Father Englehardt accomplished just what Jesus did by dying on the cross and in the process, improving medical treatment for all incarcerated inmates. I hope his family will find a good attorney willing to take on the case as a labor of love to blow up the secret buried deeply in Pennsylvania's penal institutions about substandard medical care for inmates, many who are disabled and covered by the ADA under federal law.

Father Englehardt has earned a place in heaven for all posterity and Billy Doe will have a nice warm place waiting for him deep in the bowels of hell.

Here we go again. A convicted pedophile priest is just like Jesus. He must be innocent because another inmate heard him deny his guilt just before death. Really? The convicted pedophile priest will be remembered for the next two thousand years, just like Jesus dying on the cross, for his "accomplishments." If a convicted criminal in prison claims that another convicted criminal in the same prison proclaimed his innocence to him just before he died it must be true! Convicted criminals in prison NEVER lie. Billy Doe is a "lying no good criminal" for his claims of sexual abuse suffered at the hands of this pedophile priest. If you don't believe the jury (that heard all of the evidence presented and came to a unanamous verdict of guilty), just ask a "lying no good criminal" who knew the pedophile priest while they served time in prison together... he's certain to tell the truth this time.

Jury or no jury, in the whole process of Fr. Charlie's conviction, the words of Jesus and the Holy Writ WERE NOT FOLLOWED in any of this. Are you willing to face Jesus on Judgement Day and tell Him that you were willing to IGNORE His commands when it pertains to leveling an accusation against another, and instead you bought into the mob mentality fueled by pure hyper emotional screed with not one shred of truth? The politics in Philly is sooooo f'd up, I'm not surprised that people like you think this way. It was people like yourself that demanded Barabbas go free demanding that Jesus be nailed to a cross. Don't think for one second that I am comparing Fr. Charlie to Jesus. I am not. I AM comparing -you- to the people that let Barabbas go free while screaming for the Crucifixion of Jesus.

Waannnhhh!!! The jury will face God's "judgement" because they weighed the evidence and convicted a pedophile Catholic priest of sexually abusing a minor, as will those who support that decision... HAH! I am certainly not surprised to see those of your ilk (apologists for those priest who sexually abuse innocent children and also for those within the hierarchy of the "church" who enabled them) comparing the convicted pedophile Catholic priest to Jesus (he accomplished the same thing by dying in prison that Jesus accomplished on the cross!!!) and comparing those who disagree with you to "Barrabas." I didn't "buy into" anything. I trust the decision of the jury who weighed all of the evidence presented and reached a unanamous verdict of guilty versus the wailing and moaning of apologists like you. The pedophile Catholic priest is just like Jesus about as much as you are a saint... St. Seraphim. Very impressed by your use of capital letters. How "saintly."

I never defended anyone that has actually abused children. I never compared you to Barabbas. You made that up. You have proven yourself to be a liar.

Not one word exchanged in the trial proved Fr. Charlie a pedophile. The jury bought the inconsistent hyper emotional screed presented by one lone accuser, and the mandate given by Jesus and supported in Old Testament law concerning leveling an accusation was ignored.

It'd do you well to learn the definition of the word "seraphim" and then spend a few minutes reading up on Seraphim of Sarov.

I'm not going to read up on any of those, but I think that the jury was quite swayed by the strange witness Fr. Avery who declared that he was innocent after he already copped a plea and went to prison for it. It was really weird. And I wonder if the defense attorneys did anything to avert it. There may have been legal malpractice here in addition to medical malpractice. Just saying ...

"Not one word exchanged in the trial proved Fr. Charlie a pedophile." The jury disagrees with you and that is what matters the most. Their verdict of guilty as charged after deliberating over all of the evidence presented carries much more weight with me (and the majority of other people) than your wailing and gnashing of teeth. The jury convicted this pedophile Catholic priest of sexually abusing a minor. Like it or not, you are defending someone that has been found guilty of sexually abusing children. It is not my problem that you choose to disregard this decision and continue to defend this "man of God." The truth is that you can't say for certain what happened unless you were present at the time the abuse is said to have occured. Neither can I, or anyone else. That is why there was a trial with evidence presented and arguments made by both sides. We tasked a jury of this "man of God's" peers with hearing all of the evidence presented and arguments from both sides before making their decision. I am willing to accept their verdict over your wailing and gnashing of teeth. I'll pass on reading about the saint you named yourself after as well as your crazy talk about the jury ignoring "the mandate given by Jesus and supported in Old Testament law..." SarahTX2, I think you are correct in your assessment of the strange behavior of Fr. Avery. The jury knew that he lied at some point, either when he initially pled guilty or later when he took the stand and said he wasn't really guilty. I can't see how this strategy helped the defense.

People of your ilk grant the decision of the jury in this case an infallibility which they simply do not possess. Are you unaware of the injustices meted out by corrupt juries in the days of the Jim Crow laws in this country? Many an innocent black man was sentenced to prison or death by corrupt juries whose prejudice blinded them to the humanity of the falsely convicted. It seems to me that Ralph has amply demonstrated that the same principle guided the jury deliberations in this case. It seems that anti-Catholicsm and by extension, anticlericalism, is the last acceptable prejudice in this country. The jury did not listen to the evidence. They convicted out of blind passion.

Wow, what a whopper of a column. My first thought is I'm glad someone is trying to find out what was the cause of death of this priest. I only wish it was anyone but this inmate who as an old man defrauded 18 people out of swimming pool money. However, if this inmate's efforts, despite his delusions of grandeur, cause some legitimate person to look into it, that would be good.

Has anyone found out who the appropriate county coroner is, and requested in writing for the cause of death? Who's the lawyer for the oblates, and who told him the three causes of death? I've felt all along that there's the potential for a serious malpractice case against the doctors and the hospital. I don't think anything this inmate says or writes would bolster those claims at all, but if his letters can stir up a legitimate investigation, props to him. No matter what anyone thinks about the convictions that sent the priest to prison, he was never sentenced to die either by malpractice or by neglect. It definitely does not sound like he died of natural causes.

I'll reserve comment for the moment on the irony of a case brought by a "lying no good criminal" being supposedly undone now by the rantings of another "lying no good criminal". It is stacking up to have the makings of a great 60 Minutes segment, a movie, or a book for sure.

Medical care in prisons IS notoriously inadequate. This problem is compounded by the emergence of "private" contractors that have been taking over all aspects of prison operations with a concern for profit and little else. I liked the "delusions of grandeur" description of the sixty-something year old "pool swindler." How apt. I also agree that a prison sentence handed out to a convicted pedophile priest shouldn't result in his death because of inadequate medical treatment. It would be great to see a "60 Minutes" segment on those who compare a convicted pedophile Catholic priest "accomplishments" to those of Jesus dying on the cross!

Many aspects of this story to be highlighted. Totally agree that this private prison thing is awful. At the same time, I don't think they can let prison inmates die for no reason in Pennsylvania, not yet anyway. I think Scott Pelley might want to keep this file in his current events section. This story is taking on national importance. Who is the appropriate county coroner, and what was the priest's cause of death? And when did he die? On the way to get surgery that he should have already gotten? The inmate may well have recorded details that are important. Needs to be investigated.

Also I'd like to acknowledge the inmate, Mr. Paul H. Eline, for his well-written observations. He puts me in mind of ADHD and I hope the best for him. Not an easy syndrome to work through if that's the case. I hope he can get a good appellate attorney for the mistakes that may have been made regarding swimming pools.

This will lead to a public outcry demanding better medical treatment for those incarcerated and the family of hte deceased priest will have to file a lawsuit in Federal Court demanding the State of Pennsylvania accord good medical treatment for those incarcerated as those inmates who are disabled are still accorded the protections of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA)..

Really? I missed that. It would be strange, if true, that this "recently discovered witness" previously attended "Beasley Law School." Why wouldn't the sponsor's of this site mention that? This connection should be disclosed by those who wrote this article. I find it hard to believe that Mr. Cipriano would fail to disclose this connection. Is this true, Mr. Cipriano? If true, don't you feel you have an obligation to the readers to reveal this connection? Please tell me that this new witness did not attend "Beasley Law School."

Mr. Cipriano, is Beasley Law School connected to the Beasley Law Firm? You are mistaken about me... I am no genius. I am sorry if my scepticism about a claim made by a former "law student" of Beasley Law School appearing on a blog sponsored by the Beasley Law Firm angers you. Please accept my apology.

And we need an unknown federal jurist with the ethics of a long deceased Judge Broderick to order reform in the way the State of Pennsylvania gives inmates medical treatment. In 1977, Judge Broderick ordered the State of Pennsylvania to house mentally disabled patients in community settings vice Byberry, Pennhurst and other state mental hospitals. Inmates are entitled to medical treatment and the state woukld have to be obligated to build hospitals near a state prison on prison property to ensure that inmates get the treatment they need. Physically disabled inmates are entitled to the protections of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Why is it taking so long for the Common Wealth to prosecute the main 2 culprits here. SETH DON.T TELL THE TRUTH WILLIAMS THE CATHOLIC RACIST AND BILLY DOE THE LYING JUNKIE LOOKING FOR A PAY DAY ! Its time you get off your asses amd right a wrong start a investigation into SETH.S HANDLING OF THIS INJUSTICE WAKE UP HARRISSBURG!!

Hopefully anonymous somebody in the system sees theres a problem here and gets out front of it and conducts a proper investigation using outside peopleMainly the Feds to investigate a wrong doing here but thats not gonna happen because the Catholic Racist is Black none other than SETH DON.T TELL THE TRUTH WILLIAMS AND LOCAL WHITE JUNKIE BILLY PAY DAY DOE!

Perhaps you should use all capital letters next time. The "system" did see there was a problem, held a trial, and a pedophile Catholic priest was convicted by a jury of his peers. For all we know there might not be any investigation. For all we know... If I were conducting an investigation... The Grand Jury Report was "intellectually dishonest." The jury disregarded my version of the "truth." The DA is corrupt for prosecuting this "just like Jesus" priest (state these "facts" in all capital letters, it makes you look serious!). The DA is a "Catholic racist" (are Catholics a race?). It is just a "minor coincidence" that a "new witness" with "shocking new details" about a "death bed claim of innocence" went to Beasley Law School and his story now appears in the Beasley Law Firm blog. This jury was just like the juries that were found in "Dixie" during the "Jim Crow" century. "The jury ignored the mandate given by Jesus and supportd by Old Testament Law." Man of God (Fr. Avery) lied under oath (after swearing on the Bible to tell the truth!) the first time he took the stand... but told the truth the second time he took the stand. Then whole country is anti-Catholic as well as anti-clerical... The jury didn't listen... This convicted pedophile priest accomplished just what Jesus did by dying on the cross (my favorite claim!)... did I leave anything out? Or does that just about cover it.

most likely, danny Gallagher ...pathological liar,.con artist, drug dealer and drug addict, 23 rehab graduate, graduate of Graterford prison and several other penal institutions in the tristate area, ....you are probably concerned it's been almost 2 full years since those men were convicted and you haven't seen the inside of that courtroom for the civil trial......and it's not likely to start if those superior court judges overturn those verdicts for Fr. Engelhardt and Bernard Shero in the very near future..........and the supreme court upholds the superior court's reversal of the original verdict against Lynn.....anonymous 12:55, I don't think it's Ecker, he doesn't have a vested interest like Danny Gallagher does in this scenario.....

Exactly. A former student of Beasley Law School now imprisoned for swindling people out of money accuses someone else of attempting a "financial gain through deceit." His "shocking revelations" suddenly appear on a blog sponsored by The Beasley Law Firm. He can't seem to find a reputable attorney to take his "case" but he pretends to be familiar enough with the law to bloviate and request some sort of special standing with the State Superior Court, as a third party intervenor (hahaha...). Meanwhile, this 66 year old prison "legal eagle" was so "protective" of the convicted pedophile priest that he made sure no one even cursed at him! Bodyguard to his "brother" as well as "legal scholar!" How in the world the defense team (or for that matter, the "cheerleaders" of this convicted pedophile Catholic priest at the Beasley Law Firm) think this sort of nonsense helps them is beyond me. The strategy seems to be throw everything and anything, no matter how ridiculous, at the appeals court and hope (pray!) something sticks. How about getting that esteemed "man of God," Fr. Avery, to petition the court as well. Surely this shining example of Christian virtue wouldn't lie to the court... no more than once or twice, anyway!

"I instructed this sergeant that if anything happens to Charles, that I will hold him personally responsible for Charles's well-being,"

So what is Mr. tuff guy Eline doing now ? After speaking with people who work within the prison system they doubt Eline would approach any CO and make that statement because it could be perceived as a threat.

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